Guitar Lesson 1

Barre chords in the key of C

By Brian Turner

Barre chords in the key of C with the root note on the 6th string.

By adding the 7th intervals of the scale to the chords' four-part harmony is achieved and you have the following chords. Notice many of the following chords are not barre chords. It would be more accurate to call them movable chords, meaning that each fingering can be any chord depending on what fret you are on. Any chord that doesn't utilize open strings is movable.

Below are optional fingerings for the m7 chords that are usually preferred by jazz players.

Advanced players tend to play with more economy or streamline the chords by taking out the notes on the 2nd and 5th strings as illustrated below.

After you become comfortable with the chords in the key of C, you will have accomplished the hardest part. All 12 keys are the same fingering and the distance between the chords is identical. The only difference is the starting point of the first chord. In the key of C, the root note of the first chord is at the eighth fret on the sixth string. The key of G starts at the third fret because G is at the third fret on the sixth string. D is at the tenth fret and so on.

Learn the chords following the cycle of keys. The notes follow the cycle of keys in the illustration below. The notes on the fifth string are shown below the corresponding fret.